


Took You Long Enough

by SeptemberEndings



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst with a fluffy ending, M/M, Poisoning, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2014-12-26
Packaged: 2018-03-03 15:16:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2855519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeptemberEndings/pseuds/SeptemberEndings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Merlin manages to get himself poisoned...again. But Gwaine's not worried. He's here to save the day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Took You Long Enough

Of course Merlin has to be the one to drink the poison.

And of course he has to faint, his legs crumpling like a poorly-made house in a windstorm as he drops the goblet and it rolls away from his outstretched hand like some kind of fairytale moment.

And of course Arthur has to let out a freaking plague of curses, immediately throwing off his crown and throwing down Gwen’s hand as he picks Merlin up and tears his way to Gaius’s room despite the fact that Gaius is still in the banquet hall.

Gwaine just rolls his eyes, picking up the goblet and following Arthur’s footsteps.

 

It isn’t as if Gwaine wasn’t worried; for fuck’s sake he was horrified. Merlin was Gwaine’s best and maybe only friend, much as he liked the knights. It was just this weird feeling in Gwaine’s gut that made him feel as calm and hollow as a lifeless pond, and he could barely feel the smirk on his face as his hand throttled the metal object. Still, it could hold the clues Gaius needed.

Gwaine arrives at the chambers and Arthur is arguing loud and obnoxious with Gaius, and the knights stand around the fallen manservant and for all the world it looks like a ridiculous spin on Snow White and her Chainmail-wearing, Slightly Mentally-Challenged Overgrown Dwarves.

(...Gwaine means this with the love of a brother, of course.)

“Does this help?” Gwaine asks, interrupting whatever gibberish Arthur had been screaming at Gaius. Gaius grabs the goblet, inspecting it.

“I’ll have to do some research, but this is very helpful, thank you Sir Gwaine,” Gaius says with a pointed look at Arthur as Gaius turns and immediately cracks open those dusty volumes that Gwaine thought would work better as a weapon than a source of information. Arthur roll his eyes at Gwaine’s cheeky HAH-I-was-a-help-while-you-just-screamed-at-the-only-useful-person-in-the-room expression, but it was quickly overtaken by a sickly worried one that Arthur no doubt would be ashamed of later. Gwaine feels this strange ripple in his chest, like the lifeless pond had been swiped at.

He hears a knock at the too-heavy wood door, and the Queen comes in, all rustling skirts and concerned questions and he’s not going to die, is he? Dear God, he can’t die. He’s one of my best friends tell me he isn’t going to die he can’t die Gaius tell me he’s okay he’s going to be okay right? and the knights hurry to reassure her despite the fact that Merlin was in mortal danger and hello he was kind of dying in front them at the moment so Lancelot could you maybe not stare at Gwen like she was the most important person in the room since it quite obviously was the dying man right now? Gwaine feels someone swipe again at the pond but he tried to ignore it and he turns to Gaius and wants to know why anyone would do this and if there was something he could do or something to kill because goddammit he was totally okay either way.

Gaius has somehow found something however, and he picks up the book and almost blows out Gwaine’s eardrums and he shouts, “I FOUND IT!” Lancelot stops staring at Gwen then and looked at Gaius with this hopeful expression that everyone in the room suddenly mirrors. Gwaine wonders inappropriately if his face contains the same stupid look. Gaius throws down the book again, and displays a weird charm that he’d taken out of the shitty little goblet that started this whole fucking mess.

“This is a device used by servants of the Old Religion. It is supposed to help find one’s soulmate, but those who use Dark Magic can twist it and warp it so it is used as a type of poison,” he explains. Gwaine wonders if it mattered what it was used for and weren’t they wasting time because everyone’s favorite person was kind of dying and shouldn’t they be fixing that instead of standing around talking about what was causing the problem in the first place? Gwaine wants to say that, wants to say that none of it mattered if Merlin was still going to die and if there was no cure than what the hell was he supposed to do and why were they targeting Merlin since Arthur had already found his true love so there was no one of importance to target and it made absolutely no sense but Gwaine couldn’t talk or seemingly think properly and luckily Arthur, the lovable lout he was, says for Gwaine,

“How do we heal him?”

 

Gaius shifts uncomfortably, and Gwaine knows that that’s it, and he starts thinking about leaving and running to the horizon until the sky blurred into the earth and he was unwritten and he starts wondering why he can still feel nothing, shouldn’t he be feeling some kind of horrible sorrow that everyone else did when Gaius says, “There is but one way. A true love’s kiss, it seems, would bring him back to life. Unless we can cure him this way, he has only a few hours.”

It’s ridiculous and so like Snow White that Gwaine has to wonder who the evil stepmother is (probably Uther) and Arthur’s face screws up to the point that Gwaine wonders how he managed to make his muscles go that way. He asks, “But...but how do we...I mean, Merlin’s never been romantically involved!”

Gaius shakes his head. “Love can take many different forms, Sire. There is fraternal love, a love for a child, and a love for a friend, as well as what we consider the real form of love. Perhaps Merlin just needs a friend.” Arthur sighs almost resignedly at that, and looks at Gwen.

“This...isn’t cheating, right?” Gwen shakes her head no and Gwaine knows right then what Arthur is planning to do. Gwaine feels a twinge of something in his heart, and he knows it’s not jealousy or longing or even anger, but it’s certainly unpleasant and Gwaine feels this weird sense stretch through his body as Arthur leans down and gives a quick peck to Merlin’s disturbingly still form.

He steps back and everyone stares at Merlin, looking for some sign of returned life. After a few minutes of absolute nothing, Arthur frowns. He turns to Gaius who honestly looks as if he now needs medical attention and Gwaine realizes that Arthur was the physician’s best and only bet. However, that strange feeling of weirdness drains from him like ale from a broken tankard and Gwaine has no idea why but instead of nothing he suddenly feels this presence waiting, nudging him toward...something.

Lancelot steps forward, to Merlin. He smiles, but it’s a black one and nothing Gwaine had ever seen before on a good man like Lance.

“Might as well try, right?” Lance asks almost desperately, looking around at the faces as pale as the body on the table. No one says anything, so Lance leans down gently, carefully, and presses his lips to Merlin’s.

Nothing, again.

 

Gaius looks like he’s about to sob, and everyone seems to be falling through the clouds they’d been standing on, but all Gwaine can do is stare at Merlin. He knows, he knows it isn’t him, but the presence just shook its head and seemed to be saying go on you bloody git, and Gwaine knows he has to try.  He steps forward. His throat suddenly feels like it was filled with mud.

“Sir Gwaine...what are you doing?” Arthur’s voice was dead and lacking its usual authority, but Gwaine still answered.

“Just...trust me for once, okay Princess?” No one said anything as Gwaine reached the table. Gwaine stared down at the face. Pale and unemotional, but oddly beautiful. Sharp cheekbones, coal hair, eyes as deep and starry as the night sky hidden by those stupid long lashes. He knows, knows he has to save Merlin and he can. He strokes Merlin’s face, and leans in close.

“Don’t let me down on this one, mate. They’ll never let me live this down,” he grins half-heartedly and leans down, kissing Merlin on his too soft lips. A real kiss, not the little pecks Lance and Arthur tried. He tries to let Merlin know to wake the fuck up people are waiting and that he honestly has no idea what to do since he just very very recently realized he loves the servant so if Merlin could please wake up that would appreciate it.

Gwaine stumbles backwards, and can feel everyone’s eyes on him but he just stares at the still lifeless body. His chest tightens too much and he can’t breathe and he wonders if this is how it feels for Merlin when all of a sudden there’s a series of stuttering breaths that sound like a chain-smoker’s cough but is a beautiful melody to him and Gwaine sweeps Merlin up into his arms, holding him close because dear God could he breathe knowing Merlin could too.

Merlin laughs, a little too hoarsely for his liking but still laughs, and whispers into Gwaine’s ear, “Took you long enough, you bloody idiot,” and Gwaine can’t say anything but instead pulls Merlin back in order to kiss him again and then to whack Merlin upside the head, because you don’t ever do that to me you git stop getting injured or else I’ll have to lock you up and who knows what kind of fun I’d have to get up to then but Merlin just smiles that stupid smile and holds him tight.

And then Arthur just throws up his arms, and says, “Have I just gone mad or is it actually true that Merlin and Gwaine are meant to be together? Because if that’s the case then I’m going to need twice the amount of ale Gwaine usually drinks,” and Gwaine can hear everyone, even Gaius, nod in agreement. Merlin actually throws his head back at this, laughing with shaking shoulders and gleeful eyes and Gwaine knows in that exact moment what he’d been missing for so long and trying to fill with ale and swords and half-assed adventures.

 **  
**But then again, those had been fun, and Gwaine wasn’t keen to give them up. But on the bright side, he had someone to aide him in all the stupid plans now.


End file.
